FEMA Records
18
Below median
Michigan · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Macomb County, MI
18 FEMA disaster declarations (1973-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 18
- FEMA declarations
- 12
- Major disasters
- 97
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Macomb County. Its 18 FEMA declarations are 80% above the Michigan county mean and exceed the count for 37% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 3%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 3%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 18
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 1,436
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records; an EM authorizes a narrower set of federal assistance than a DR.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 26099 · Macomb County 18 declarations · rank 1970/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-HIGH · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-HIGH
- DECL-MID 18
- MAJOR-MID 67%
- RANK-LOWER #1,970
- PHOTO-FINISH Monroe
- NRI-HIGH 97
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-HIGH +80%
Nearest declaration peer: Monroe, TN (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Michigan state profile
Macomb County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Macomb County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Brooke · near 18
Brooke · near
18 declarations
- Macomb · this county 18
Macomb · this county
18 declarations
- Mecklenburg · near 18
Mecklenburg · near
18 declarations
- Monroe · near 18
Monroe · near
18 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Macomb County carries 18 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1970 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Macomb County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Macomb County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Macomb County
18 37th percentile higher than 37% of 3,266 counties
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-25
Macomb County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Macomb County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $145.9M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Tornado carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High). EAL and risk score use different inputs; they need not agree.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025 release) - Expected Annual Loss vs composite risk rating by hazard.
What does Macomb County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 1,436 claims and $9.0M in payments. PlainHazard labels 500 or more claims a heavy registry record; that is a reporting bucket, not an official FEMA risk grade. The average paid claim was $6.3K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Macomb County's 18 federal records stand 80% above the Michigan county mean of 10.0. That comparison describes how often federal action was recorded, including any Major Disaster, Emergency, and Fire Management entries shown on this page; it does not convert the count into future probability.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 96.7/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $268.0M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Low and community resilience Very High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Tornado stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 5 years here, based on 15 historical events on record.
68 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Macomb County, MI · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite from FEMA declaration history only on the county surface (this DB has no county-level NOAA damage row) . It is not FEMA's National Risk Index, not a forecast, and not a safety, insurance, or preparedness rating. Open the calculator · Methodology
FEMA Declarations (1953–present) Moderate
13/30
18 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density Very High
23/25
18 declarations (1.8x state county average of 10)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
12 of 18 declarations are major disasters (67%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Macomb County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Macomb County
How to read this radar
Each axis: NRI risk rating (Very Low-Very High) on a 0-100 scale. Rounder = broad exposure; spiky = one or two hazards dominate.
Major Disaster share
67%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
97
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Macomb County?
FEMA's National Risk Index models a historical event count and an annualized frequency for each hazard type. Most hazards are expressed as modeled occurrences per year; FEMA expresses drought and heat-wave frequency as event-days per year. These modeled frequencies are not forecasts.
| Hazard | NRI Risk Rating | Recurrence |
|---|---|---|
| Tornado | Very High | roughly once every 5 years |
| Cold Wave | Very High | an average of 2.6 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Very High | an average of 4.9 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Very High | an average of 2 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 4.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.4 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 34 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 11 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1,290 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 65 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 83 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 80,941 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 14 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 6
Severe Storm 5
Snowstorm 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Other 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Macomb County's record, 33% of its declarations. Federal flood declarations cover two mechanisms that behave very differently: riverine flooding, which builds over days as a watershed drains and is usually forecast well in advance, and flash flooding, which can arrive in under an hour from rainfall that fell somewhere upstream.
Flood is also the one hazard class where a second federal dataset exists for the same events. The National Flood Insurance Program records what was actually paid on insured losses, so it measures a narrower thing than the declaration count: uninsured damage, and flooding outside mapped special flood hazard areas, never enters it. Reading the two together is more informative than either alone.
Declaration counts describe past federal action. They are a record of what was declared, not a forecast of future hazard probability.
Declaration Types
What DR / EM / FM mean
FEMA categorizes declarations as Major Disasters (DR), Emergencies (EM), or Fire Management Assistance (FM).
Major Disaster - 12 66.7%
of all 18 declarations
Emergency - 6 33.3%
of all 18 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 1 | |
Show 1 earlier declaration years
| 1973 | 2 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 18 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 18 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4757 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2024-02-08 |
| 4607 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2021-07-15 |
| 4494 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-27 |
| 3455 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4195 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2014-09-25 |
| 3225 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-07 |
| 1527 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-06-30 |
| 3189 | POWER OUTAGE | EM | Other | 2003-09-23 |
| 3160 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2001-01-10 |
| 3137 | MI - SEVERE WEATHER 1/2 /99 | EM | Snowstorm | 1999-01-27 |
| 1237 | SEVERE STORMS AND HIGH WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-08-05 |
| 1181 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES,AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-07-11 |
| 774 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1986-09-18 |
| 3057 | BLIZZARDS & SNOWSTORMS | EM | Snowstorm | 1978-01-27 |
| 495 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, ICING & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1976-03-19 |
| 465 | SEVERE STORMS, HIGH WINDS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-04-26 |
| 371 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-04-12 |
| 363 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1972-12-01 |
Storm Events in Michigan
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Macomb County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 3,010 | 10 | 18 | $173.8M |
| Winter Storm | 1,486 | 3 | 11 | $41.8M |
| Winter Weather | 1,254 | 21 | 38 | $892.0K |
| Hail | 962 | 0 | 0 | $77.1M |
| High Wind | 389 | 3 | 2 | $668.9M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
1,436
Total Paid
$9.0M
Avg Per Claim
$6.3K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 96.7/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$268.0M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Tornado Very High
Cold Wave Very High
Strong Wind Very High
Ice Storm Very High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively Low
Hurricane Very Low
Coastal Flooding Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Drought No Rating
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Tornado
Tornado exposure is the most spatially concentrated in the model: total destruction along a narrow corridor with intact property either side. County-level averages therefore understate severity badly for anyone actually in the path, and overstate it for everyone else.
Worth noting for Macomb County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Tornado carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), while the county's declaration history is led by Flood. That is not a contradiction, the two measure genuinely different things. Declarations record federal ACTION, which requires damage costly enough to exceed state and local capacity; the Risk Index models EXPECTED annual loss across all 18 hazards whether or not any declaration ever followed. A hazard can be the county's largest modeled exposure and never once have driven a declaration.
National Risk Index ratings are modeled estimates of expected annual loss, not predictions of what will happen in any given year.
Data-matched county comparisons
Macomb County's closest FEMA peer: Washoe County, NV
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Macomb County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Macomb County: NRI composite 96.7 (Relatively High).
Similar Major-disaster share
Macomb County: 12 of 18 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Macomb County shows 18 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
How these peers are chosen
Cohort: Published U.S. county equivalents outside the source state or territory. Each metric keeps six ETL candidates; three unique destinations are shown after de-duplicating across axes. Declaration-volume ranking combines count and Major-disaster share and prefers a different leading incident type; Major-share ranks the Major fraction adjusted for volume; NRI ranks the modeled composite score only.
Retained FEMA snapshot feed for Macomb County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Macomb County: nearest out-of-state National Risk Index composite and nearest FEMA declaration count (floor ≥5 records). Record similarity only, not a forecast of the next hazard.
Similar NRI composite
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA NRI score. This county: 96.7 (Relatively High).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 18. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Macomb County's NFIP claims file (1,436 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
More PlainHazard guides
- Most disaster-prone counties - U.S. counties ranked by FEMA declaration totals.
- Understanding disaster data - declarations vs storm events vs NRI scores.
- Preparing for natural disasters - household checklist (not county-specific advice).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Macomb County?
The most common disaster type in Macomb County is Flood, with 6 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (5), Snowstorm (3), Biological (2).
How does Macomb County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Michigan average?
FEMA lists 18 declaration records for Macomb County. That is 80% above the Michigan county mean of 10.0. Its count is also 13% below the national county mean of 20.7. A larger declaration history records more federal actions; it is not a forecast of the county's next hazard.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Macomb County received?
Macomb County has received 12 major disaster declarations, representing 67% of all 18 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Macomb County filed?
Macomb County has 1,436 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $9.0M in payments, with an average of $6.3K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Macomb County?
No. In Macomb County, Tornado has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $145.9M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Macomb County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Macomb County was 1973, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1973 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Macomb County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Macomb County, Michigan has an overall risk score of 96.7 out of 100 (Relatively High). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Low, while community resilience comes in at Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $268.0M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Macomb County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Macomb County as of the latest release is Tornado (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Cold Wave (Very High) and Strong Wind (Very High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts tornado here at roughly once every 5 years, drawn from 15 historical events on record. FEMA derives these ratings from historical event frequency, the assets exposed, and the community's vulnerability profile.
Data Sources & Methodology
Disaster declaration data comes from the FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 API, which includes all federally declared disasters, emergencies, and fire management assistance grants.
Storm event data is sourced from the NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025), which tracks significant weather events including thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, and winter storms.
Flood insurance data comes from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA claims dataset.
This data is provided for informational purposes only. FEMA disaster declarations represent federal response actions and may not capture all local emergencies or weather events.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Macomb County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Michigan profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events